Into The Heart of Argentina

It’s almost time to start packing our bags! No, we’re not quite ready to move to Argentina, but we ARE ready for an extended trip there. On February 20th we fly out of Detroit, heading first to Miami and then Buenos Aires. It’s just a hop, skip and a jump from there over to Uruguay where we’ll attend the annual field conference for all the BMW missionaries in South America. A great chance to get to meet everyone!

The remaining month we’ll be in the province of Cordoba, in the interior of Argentina. We have a lot we want to accomplish! A highlight on the schedule is a survey trip up the Punilla Valley, where we’ll get to see firsthand the needs and opportunities in each of the twelve towns throughout the valley. In Carlos Paz where our co-workers live, we’ll stay with the language tutor that the Ramirez’ have lined up for me. So besides having a chance to practice what I’ve learned, I will get additional instruction. And the tutor can advise us on what I should be doing for language study during our remaining time in the U.S., until we are ready to move to Argentina.

We plan to take lots of photos and video footage that we can then incorporate into a presentation DVD to use on deputation. And of course we’ll be able to meet people, hear stories, and have experiences that will help us better understand the ministry needs in that part of Argentina.

It will be helpful to see what household items are readily available at reasonable prices in Argentina. Ivan keeps joking that it will be hard for me to fit all my books into the two suitcases per person allowed by the airlines, but in reality we know we will have to take some things. We’d just rather not take anything we don’t have to when we move, keeping our shipping container to the smallest possible size.

Aside from all the “practical” items on the agenda, we also look forward to just spending time with people — old friends that Ivan knew while growing up in Argentina and new friends we’ll make during our travels.

Throughout it all, we rest in the assurance that God is directing our steps and that folks back home are praying…for our safety and good travel connections (we’ll be using a lot of public transport on this trip), for daily strength, for opportunities to accomplish all we hope to, for open doors to share the gospel, and for God’s clear direction in it all. It is such an encouragement and blessing to know we have so many faithful prayer partners supporting us here in the U.S. THANK YOU!

We’ll return to the U.S. on March 28th.

Some very exciting news to share: Our support level has risen to almost 55%!!! In just the last few months we’ve heard from a couple of churches and a number of individuals who are joining the team. Praise the Lord! As mentioned in the last prayer letter, we’re asking God for full support by the end of this year.

Since cutting back to part-time at work last fall, Ivan has more time to call and visit pastors. Each month we send and hand out quite a few information packets to those he’s contacted. We know pastors receive letters from many missionaries every week asking to present their ministries, and they can’t invite them all. Please pray with us that in the coming months God will provide many open doors for us to share our vision and passion for ministry in Argentina.

We’re not sure what kind of internet connection will be available during this trip. We will take our laptop and, when we have the chance, send an e-mail update to those in our e-mail address book. If you received this prayer letter through regular mail, it means we don’t have a current and accurate e-mail address for you. So if you’d like to get the e-mail updates, please e-mail us with your information. Send it to me at kimberlyhoyt@yahoo.com and I’ll make sure you get added to the address book.

Again, thank you for your continuing prayers and support. We look forward to sharing what God does on this trip!!!